"Bell Let's Talk"

     It's that time of year again...

     If you use social media and you've logged in today, I'm sure you've seen tons of usage of the hashtag, #BellLetsTalk attached mostly to tweets about mental health related issues and personal experiences. I think it is SO important, that things like this are happening.

     What is this movement? According to the website, found here, "Bell Let's Talk is a multi-year charitable program dedicated to mental health. Bell is donating $0.05 more to Canadian mental health initiatives for every text message sent, and mobile and long distance call made by a Bell customer. They are also donating a nickel, for every tweet that uses the #BellLetsTalk hashtag and every share on Facebook of their Bell Let's Talk image, that can be found here.

     In years past, they have raised over 3 million dollars (in one year!), which is absolutely amazing. Something like this needs to happen within the United States and I wish I had the ability to make that happen. My thoughts are stewing, and I'm hoping that one day in the future, the stigma attached to mental health will no longer exist. Mental Health is overlooked not only in Canada, but everywhere. Here are some absolutely shocking facts from within the borders of our very own United States:
(These facts are from http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=about_mental_illness and I take no responsibility in the research done to obtain them.)

• 10% of adolescents currently are suffering from serious emotional/mental disorders that have the capability to cause impairment in their ability to function in their home, school and social lives on a daily basis. 
• The WHO (World Health Organization) reported that 4/10 top causes of disability in the US as well as other developed countries in the world are mental disorders. 
• By the year 2020, major depression is set to be the top cause in the world among women and children for disability. 
• The economic cost of untreated mental illness in the US is over 100 BILLION dollars per year.
• The best treatments for mental illness are effective in noticeably significant symptom reduction as well as improved quality of life in 70-90% of patients. 
• Early identification and treatment is crucial. 

     Obviously I couldn't begin to list every statistic out there, but just those should be enough to widen your eyes a little bit. 

     I have struggled with depression and anxiety for years and I've been seeing a therapist/psychiatrist since I was about 15 years old. It used to embarrass me and I never wanted to tell anyone about it. I let my diagnosis define me, and there was nothing in my eyes that I could do about it. I messed with drugs, I wanted to die and I didn't care what anyone thought about it. I was lost. I felt like I had nowhere to turn and no one to talk to. I felt like I had no help. The reality was that I did have support, I just chose to ignore it and avoid it. (Support is extremely easy to avoid when you are really hanging low.) I got myself into trouble, and I finally hit a low point and was eventually self admitted, into a psychiatric hospital. I was there for 10 days my senior year of high school. It was the hardest 10 days of my life, there's no question about that. I may not have wanted to go and I may not have thought that I needed to go but it really was so helpful to me. I got the help that I needed and I came out with so many tools for myself, to continue to help cope and overcome the diagnosed severe clinical depression that I was battling from within.  

      I'm lucky that I was able to receive treatment, and get the help that I needed before my problems became much bigger. The issue is though, not enough people can get treatment. Less than 40% of adults with diagnosable Mental Health issues, and around 20% of adolescents/children receive the help and treatment that they need. It's hard to get into some therapists.  A couple of years ago, my husband and I had moved to NY for school. I called around to try and get to a new psychiatrist, and everywhere I called placed me on a 2 month wait list at the very minimum. I'm not a "high risk" case, but there is NO excuse for this. No excuse at all.

     Chances are, you know someone with some sort of diagnosable illness. Even if you don't, there's still so much you can do to help. Whether they suffer from PTSD, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or one of the many other diagnoses, being there as a support system is something you can do to help. I'm not saying treat them differently in a negative way because of this. Those of us with diagnosed illnesses are still people. We are no different from the members of society that don't have any of the illnesses. Also, just because you may not personally be affected by any of these, doesn't mean we're lying about what's wrong and doesn't mean that mental illness is some cry for attention. Today it seems that people just want to label some as "crazy" and make comments about people being in the "looney bin" or the "nut house." Do you not see what's wrong with that? Why is having a mental illness so "wrong?" It is an ILLNESS. It is just like other illnesses. You are diagnosed and treated, so that you no longer suffer from what is internally affecting you. Obviously, in some situations there are many outside triggers in ones environment that need adjusted as well, but you get the point.

     We need to work together to get rid of this stigma, to get people to stop saying others are crazy, insane, nuts, etc., We need to help educate each other on mental health and hopefully it will spread and make help easier to get. Whether it be making sure friends have access to a suicide hotline, or helping someone get in touch with a psychiatrist. Every little bit counts and helps. So many people today are afraid to speak up that they need help or think something is going on inside of them because they're afraid of getting scrutinized for it. What makes that okay? Nothing does. Society and this stigma that's so attached to mental health right now, is causing people to be afraid of going and getting help or support from those around them, because they don't want judged. This is SO sad and SO wrong. 

     We need more doctors in the field, and we need more of a voice out there, to make sure everyone can get help that they need. There's no reason for parents to have to run to emergency rooms because there aren't any beds at psychiatric hospitals for their children or loved ones, and then get told their child isn't a risk or that they have to go home because their insurance will only pay for so long. The fact that there are news pieces being done on the short comings within out society with mental health, should help us realize that there is a serious problem, here. Watch the news piece from 60 Minutes, here.

     Now's the time for us to make a difference and make sure a change occurs. Sometimes all it takes is recognizing that someone does have an illness and that it's not a lie or a cry for attention. 

     The bottom line is, mental health is not a joke, us affected are not "crazy," and helping can be as easy as handing out a phone number, giving a shoulder to lean on, or guiding someone to further assistance. 

     If you've been diagnosed, remind yourself that your mental illness/diagnosis does NOT define you. You are strong enough to overcome it.

     Since I've welcomed our son into the world, I hope more than anything that he is able to grow up in a world that mental health problems are not frowned upon. I hope that if he, or anyone close to him ever needs to get help for something, that they're able to do so without fear, embarrassment or feeling ashamed. 


- Taylor


Always remember, you have a voice. There are resources to help you, even if it's just a phone number it can get you started in the right direction. See http://www.mentalhealth.gov/get-help/index.html for a head start on accessing the help you can get. 

Great image, and representative of what needs to happen.